Obama: Fix what's broken on immigration

Obama: I've heeded GOP's calls on border

Updated 5:30 am, Tuesday, May 10, 2011

President Obama speaks about immigration reform at Chamizal National Memorial Park in El Paso.

President Obama speaks about immigration reform at Chamizal National Memorial Park in El Paso.

Photo: Charles Dharapak, Associated Press

Obama: Fix what's broken on immigration

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EL PASO — President Barack Obama used this border city to renew his call for immigration reform, calling it an "economic imperative" that will strengthen the middle class and make America more competitive globally.

Obama said his administration has answered Republican demands to secure the border, putting more boots on the border than ever before and increasing seizures of drugs, cash and weapons. At the same time, he said, apprehensions are down, meaning fewer people are attempting to cross the border illegally.

"Now we need to come together around reform that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants, that demands everyone take responsibility," Obama said.

The GOP leadership called the president's immigration plan a cynical ploy to stir up the Hispanic vote and criticized him for not having visited the border sooner.

Obama toured the border as a candidate and last year visited soldiers at Fort Bliss in El Paso.

"The president is right that we are a nation of immigrants, but we are a nation of legal immigrants," U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. "And he is right that Washington needs to know that a movement is gathering, but this movement is comprised of the majority of Americans wanting to see our immigration laws enforced."

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The president's speech wasn't long on details, and he didn't set out a timeline.

He suggested only a broad outline of a possible package, which reiterated the positions he took in his 2008 presidential campaign. It would include a path to citizenship for those illegally in the U.S., provided they undergo a background check, gain English proficiency, pay back taxes and pay a fine.

And it would fix a visa system that he said puts unfair burdens on those trying to immigrate legally and doesn't provide enough labor to U.S. industries that need it.

The president also renewed his call for passage of the DREAM Act, which provides a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants who attended college here or served in the military.

Also in the crowd was U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, one of the few legislators present.

Absent was Gov. Rick Perry, who the White House said had declined an invitation to greet the president on the tarmac. Perry has been requesting federal funding to fight wildfires in Texas and has been critical of Obama for not delivering.

"Governor Perry wanted to meet with the president to discuss the wildfires and border security, not just shake his hand in a receiving line on a tarmac," Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said.

Obama has a tough road ahead on immigration reform. A comprehensive plan died in the Republican-controlled Senate in 2007, and the DREAM Act couldn't make it through the Democrat-controlled Congress last year. Now he must try to move it through a Republican House and a Senate that has only a narrow Democratic majority.

Party-line reactions

But U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaking Tuesday on Fox News Channel's America's Newsroom , said Obama is just spinning his wheels.

"I don't know what the point is, other than the campaign effort leading to 2012," Cornyn said.

In some respects, El Paso was a perfect backdrop for the president's speech. Located across the Rio Grande from violence-plagued Ciudad Juárez, the town of 650,000 saw only five homicides last year. But cross-border incidents still happen, such as the shooting of a Mexican teen by a Border Patrol agent last year and the seizure of a ton of pot over the weekend.

Praises for Austin

Following his trip to the border, Obama made a fund-raising foray through Austin. He offered an enthusiastic crowd of nearly a thousand supporters an early version of his re-election pitch, serving up a litany of accomplishments. And then for those who argue that his administration hasn't shown the Lone Star State the proper respect - they cite, among other things, NASA's snub of Houston as a final resting place for one of the retiring shuttles - Obama offered this:

"I love Texas. I especially love Austin - love this city," he told the crowd. "It was always one of my favorite places to come during the campaign, and I intend to drop by a few more times."

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